Update: Bill Gates has told Bloomberg that he was “disappointed” by the ways his views were presented, and he does not back the FBI’s side of this particular case, and that the matter should be decided by the courts.
Apple is locked in a battle with the FBI over whether or not it should create a tool to access data on a locked iPhone 5c used by one of the San Bernardino gunmen, but as some have expected, that’s only one of many cases in which Apple is involved. The Wall Street Journal reports this evening that the Department of Justice is seeking data from at least 12 other iPhones in criminal cases.
The report, citing people familiar with the matter, says that the Justice Department is pursuing data from “about twelve” iPhones around the country. While the details of these investigations have not yet been made public, the report claims that none of them involve terrorism charges like the San Bernardino case does.
“In most of the cases, rather than challenge the orders in court, Apple simply deferred complying with them, without seeking appropriate judicial relief,’’ prosecutors in a New York drug-related case wrote.
Meanwhile, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has come out and sided with the FBI in the ongoing debate over user privacy versus national security. The Financial Times reports today that Gates believes that Apple should create a way for the government to access the data in this specific case:
“This is a specific case where the government is asking for access to information. They are not asking for some general thing, they are asking for a particular case,” Gates told the Financial Times.
However, Gates appears to have made this comment before the revelation that the U.S. government is seeking data from an additional 12 iPhones involved in criminal cases. The way Gates worded his opinion made it sound like he agrees with the FBI only in the San Bernardino case. Whether or not Gates’ opinion has changed with this evening’s revelation is unclear.
Apple’s battle with the FBI over national security versus user privacy began last week and has since become one of the biggest and most complex stories in tech and politics. You can view all of our extensive coverage at the links below:
- U.S. judge orders Apple to help FBI access data on San Bernardino gunman’s iPhone 5c
- Apple publishes letter responding to FBI iPhone unlock demand: ‘an unprecedented step which threatens the security of our customers’
- Google CEO Pichai appears to side with Apple in series of vague tweets on FBI encryption battle
- Security firm shows how Apple could bypass iPhone security to comply with FBI request
- Opinion: How likely is Apple to succeed in resisting the FBI court order?
- Should Apple comply with FBI request to bypass San Bernardino gunman’s iPhone? [Poll]
- Civil rights groups and tech companies express support for Apple’s stand against the FBI
- Opinion: Why an iPhone master key is better than a backdoor, but still too dangerous
- Petition urges White House to support Apple in blocking government access to locked iPhones
- Senate Intelligence Committee considering bill to penalize companies refusing to decrypt user device
- Report: Apple to get more time to formally respond to government’s request for access to locked iPhone
- Apple/FBI fight looks destined to go all the way to the Supreme Court as more background is revealed
- Department of Justice files motion to force Apple to comply with FBI iPhone backdoor request
- Apple implies FBI screwup: iPhone Apple ID password changed in govt possession, backdoor unnecessary
- FBI explains why it changed Apple ID password in iPhone unlock case, retrieved iCloud backups up to October 19 but wants more
- San Bernardino victims divided on iPhone issue as FBI claims not trying to set a precedent
- Apple/FBI: Tim Cook sends memo to employees, wants government to drop All Writs Act demands, posts customer FAQ
- Mark Zuckerberg sides w/ Apple in encryption battle as poll suggests public supports FBI
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A ‘particular’ case that has apparently already grown to 12 devices before the arguments over the first one are over. Jeez, anyone that believes the FBI won’t abuse the tool is delusional. I’m not so much worried that they’d use it against innocent civilians (as innocent civilians don’t have anything to hide anyway), but the FBI is obviously not technical enough to secure such a tool. And once it gets out and into the wrong hands (hackers, identity thieves, and ironically terrorists orginizations), identify theft will likely bring entire economies to destruction.
The FBI is Oedipus incarnate. They fear terrorists, but are trying to force the creation of the tool that will empower terrorist greater then any other weapon on the planet.
Except 12 phones or 1, Bill Gates is flat out wrong. The FBI -IS- seeking a universal tool that would work on all iPhones, past, present, and future. He’s either that uninformed or he’s just the same ol’ bitter Gates from the 90s because Apple didn’t vanish into obscurity and instead overtook Microsoft in value and cultural relevance.
Gates apparently believes that Apple already have access, he thinks they already have a back door. He doesn’t understand the technical problem or the precedence that the request sets.
By the way, the “suspects” we’re careful to completely destroy both of their personal phones! The fact that he did not bother to destroy his work phone strongly suggests that there is nothing on there that he thought would be of any use to investigators.
I just can’t believe these other mobile phone manufacturers are siding with the FBI. No one in this country agrees with what those terrorist did to other humans, but it goes beyond that. Our government has shown they can’t keep confidential information confidential. How many times have their databases been hacked and even government employees information been stolen? All it takes is a hack in their own database and the “backdoor” into iOS devices gets into the wrong hands. There goes innocent law abiding citizens privacy. Their personal information, SSN, card numbers, DOB, private and possibly intimate text, intimate photos and anything else they can get their hands on. Banking account information. All that created by a back door into the most popular mobile phone on the face of the planet. That’s just scary. Good thing the two that have spoken up and disagreed with Apple has the smallest share of the mobile industry.
Makes me feel good that I’m totally invested into Apple’s entire ecosystem.
Bill Gates isn’t with Microsoft anymore. He stepped down as Chairman of the Board, so he’s just a founder and a large shareholder. I can understand both sides and it’s kind of difficult to provide the FBI with something unless it was a special hardware device, but they would STILL have to only allow them to use it after a court order. It’s a tough call.
You’re obviously right, he’s not really with Microsoft anymore in that official capacity, but his name and Microsoft go together like any big brand and their founder.. It gives us an idea of what he believes and to think he doesn’t have an influence in how things are run or what access they allow is naive. Microsoft is Bill Gates. I’m not trying to be rude when I say this, but do you honestly believe they would only use it with a court order? And that’s beside the point of my entire comment. My comment was about any government agency not able to protect themselves for breaches. All it takes is the wrong person finding the “backdoor” then it’s not even an FBI issue anymore, it’s an Apple issue, and when Apple phones are being hacked, guess who’s gonna be the bad guy!? Not the FBI. Apple, that’s who. That’s who everyone going to be pissed at when they’d private information has been stolen from their iPhone.
Back to what you said: I trust this country with privacy as much as I trust North Korea’s word that they’re not starving their citizens.
Within the first few months of TSA agents being able to do full body scans on passengers, they were doing them to male and female co-workers and sharing the images far and wide. This is all anyone needs to know about the government invading your privacy and the abuse of power. Once Apple gets knocked over (if there are any other protecting-your-privacy hold-outs, let me know), there’s nothing left.
Wonder if a terrorist attack featured a Windows Phone, will Bill Gates take side with the FBI or will he not unlock the phone for them…
Don’t be silly no one uses Windows Phone :-x
They would not need that as probably any half-rate hacker could do it – even a gov’t hacker.
This guy; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUJMR3BUm2s ? How curious.
I’m glad you share this. I wonder does anybody knows what Bill Gates and his wife; is doing to the world. Screw his Bill and Menlinda foundation, these people are just pure evil.
If you’d like to support Apple’s stance on privacy, there is a White House petition at https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/apple-privacy-petition
#StandWithApple
Well we all know micro$haft already has backdoors in it. Shoot any one stupid enough to even still use Skype after they took over it is crazy. You know first thing they did was open it up so it could be listened to.
Micro$haft? I’m not even a Microsoft fan but you must be what, 12? You are also aware aren’t you that using $ to represent the S in Microsoft was valid years ago. They no longer carry the “milk our customers dry” torch aloft anymore – that mantle was passed to Apple a long time back.
Ju$t $saying.
I see you’re still at it, spewing your same tired rhetoric and BS… You obviously don’t know jack, as M$ continues to “milk our customers dry”, they’ve just shifted the monetary milking to their enterprise customers, and they’re “consumer” customers are now being milked in other ways, namely forced marketing and tracking ala their latest product, Windows 10.
Do everyone a favour and just SHUT YOUR PIE HOLE, moron
My opinion of Bill has turned sour on this one perspective of his – for someone who understands technology intimately, how would he not see or understand the ramifications of such a court decision. Any one who is involved with the forensics of pulling data from any digital device knows you have to provide proof that the extraction tool works, and is peer reviewed, and that information on exactly how it works is provided to both prosecution and defence. The idea that only one version of the software, and that it will work on only one version of the phone is disingenuous as well – they can’t work on the evidence phone itself, so they’d have to work on a few other 5c’s to prove that it works. Then they’d have to test on the other phones in the line up to prove that it doesn’t work on other phones on the lineup, and provide all of this as part of evidence in court that the OS they came up with does exactly what its supposed to do, and doesn’t modify the data on the phone. Which means there will actually be more than one copy of the OS available, and it has to be loaded on other phones than the 5C to prove that it doesn’t work on the 5C. Even if any or all of this work is done on Apple Campus, it all has to be dragged out and presented and confirmed and peer reviewed. With media coverage and so many hands on the package of work and information contained, the techniques of the backdoor is basically revealed to third parties that neither Apple nor the FBI or the DOJ has any control over. And now that the Manhattan DA has numerous phones lined up waiting for Apple, the claim that this is a one time exception is already made false.
Every one keeps forgetting one major problem with the whole case of FBI wanting a custom firmware. How they going to install it on the phone? iOS devices require the password to be entered before they even begin to install any firmware weather it threw iTunes or OTA. Only way around that is DFU which wipes the phone.
How many dozens, hundreds or thousands will DIE because some terrorist got access to the backdoor and used it to get the wrong information?!?
I don’t understand why this is such a big issue, the FBI is not asking Apple to build a tool to bypass Iphone security and then hand it over to them but instead is asking Apple to find a way in and provide to them the information they need and I think that’s what Bill Gate tried to say, Apple because is so concerned about the privacy of his customers it will keep that tool or technique to bypass Iphone’s security in-house no access to public so if a Government service with a specific warrant from the judge regarding data from an iphone involved into a crime scene comes to Apple, they will just use their mojo to provide the inquired data unless Apple is afraid that it can’t guarantee the security of its own servers or agents or secret team lab research or something…
And how about all other governments around the world? Even though I am a big apple fanboy, I am not comfortable with knowing there is master key that allows Apple and anyone else get access to my data.
The way to bypass the iPhone security is to re-write an entire OS -period- To do that you need people (many people) to enroll, other people to explain how, people to teach how to do that, etc It’s not like the “analog way”: you may always destroy a piece of paper. The digital way is very dangerous because information will begin to circulate though a PC then on a server and probably one day on the internet.
What about the Apple engineers that develop the knowledge of how to make this tool? They will have great power. They can leave Apple at any time and Apple can’t delete what they know from their brains! What if one of these engineers goes to work for a foreign government? Or becomes a terrorist? This tool should never be made, such knowledge should never exist!
Not surprising bill would say this.
After all, windows 10 has a wide open back door.
Bill Gates who? Is him the same guy who sold one of the most vulnerable operating system in the world? Is it the same guy who won a contract to sell tablet to USA government? Ah….
lets face it, gate’s will of course agree with the FBI, every product Microsoft he sells has a back door called WINDOWS
Bill, you would not know what software security,privacy means as your Windows software have inflicted pain to so many users for so long, Fix that first.
Microsoft has offered the government backdoors for a while now.
It’s one of the reasons foreign governments have moved away from Win
And now it’s 12. Shocking. Not only do I not trust my government with that kind of access, I really don’t trust other foreign governments getting the same kind of access. What, you think the iPhone is only sold in this country? We’ve got to think globally, and the risk of creating these backdoors isn’t worth the reward of getting the info off a couple phones (or a few thousand).
Of course Bill Gates would side with the FBI. Microsoft has never known how to develop a secure system. A 4th grader could hack into any Microsoft platform. He’s jealous of Apple’s ability. The FBI said they wanted “just this one” cell phone. And now it’s grown to 12. The FBI said they didn’t change the Apple ID. Then, oh, well they finally admitted that they did. And we’re supposed to trust them? And I think we all know that the NSA could hack into any cell phone with little effort. But the NSA and the FBI don’t play well together. Or all they really want is to make everyone’s cellphones unsecured. Ahhh, the land of the free.
Obviously there is more than one criminal’s phone law enforcement needs access to, but Apple is obstructing them. This is hardly unpredictable.
Gates may well have been asked only about one specific device, but if you ask him about other specific cases you will get the same answer …
* Random, routine access to peoples private information? – No
* Access to specific information in serious cases, with court order? – Yes
This is not news – it’s exactly what Microsoft (and every other responsible corporation) does and has done for years.
Apple thinks they have come up with a good marketing gimmick with this. ‘Look how we protect you from the wicked FBI.’ But it’s going to backfire.
Hopefully a few of those other phones are in child molestation cases. Having protected the privacy of a dead terrorist murderer, let’s see if protecting the privacy of child molesters generates the sort of publicity Apple likes.
That’s it huh? As if iPhones don’t sell otherwise? Nice try, but go now away and enjoy your Zune.